UKRAINE’S FLAG (Shutterstock).

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has made its first successful advances in its push against Russian invaders.

That’s what the Kyiv government is saying, according to The New York Times. Three small settlements in the Donetsk region are claimed to have been liberated. A video was posted of the Ukrainian flag being raised over the village of Blahodatne.

In pressing their attacks, rocket and artillery bombardments have been aimed at Russians command centers, ammunition depots, troop concentrations and other targets.

Truck fire leads to freeway collapse

A tanker truck caught fire Sunday on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia on Sunday and the blaze led to the collapse of a portion of the freeway.

According to United Press International, the heavily-traveled roadway was closed to traffic in both directions, affecting traffic all along the East Coast.

“I-95 will be impacted for a long time, for a long time,” said a Philadelphia official.

Also in the news … “Kimberly Akimbo” won Tony Awards for best musical, best musical original score and best musical book on Sunday in New York City. The best play award went to “Leopoldstadt.”

Sports: Angels blast Mariners; Dodgers slide

The pretty-hot Los Angels Angels won their sixth game in seven tries, defeating the Seattle Mariners 9-4  in Anaheim on Sunday. With the win, the Halos are 36-31 and in third place in the American League West. Perhaps more importantly, they moved to within 1.5 games of a wild card spot..

Jumping off to a 6-0 lead, the Orange County team kept the M’s at bay with a 13-hit attack that included a home run by Taylor Ward (his eighth of the season) and two by Zach Neto (fourth and fifth).

Shohei Ohtani went 3-for-5 and scored one run. Brandon Drury was 2-for-4 and Matt Thaiss was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored.

Griffin Canning improved his record to 5-2. He pitched five innings and yielded seven hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven and walked none, but was touched by two homers.

The Angels will have a travel day off Monday and start a key series Tuesday in Arlington against the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.

Tough times continue for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as they lost Sunday 7-3 to the Phillies in Philadelphia. It was their seventh loss in 10 games.

Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward homered for the Blue Crew, but it wasn’t enough to ultimately overcome 3-0 and 4-1 deficits. The team couldn’t solve Phils’ starter Taijuan Walker (6-3), who pitched five shutout innings. He yielded just two hits and struck out five while walking two.

With the loss, the Dodgers are now 37-29, which puts them three games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West. The team will have Monday off and open a homestand on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.

Weather: Some clouds and some sun

The roller coaster that is the forecast for our West Orange County area will keep on rolling for the next few days. Monday’s outlook is for morning clouds and afternoon sun. The daytime high should be 69 with an overnight low of 59. Tuesday will be a bit warmer (72/60) and partly cloudy. Wednesday turns to mostly sunny and 72/61. Thursday warms a bit to 73/61 and should also be mostly sunny.